UNC Football: Spring Practice winding down

The North Carolina football team will conclude their spring practice with their annual Spring Game this Saturday, April 12th at 3pm in Kenan Stadium. So far, Carolina has had two separate scrimmages in Charlotte and Greensboro, respectively, that have given fans a first look at the upcoming 2014 Tar Heels.

Check out this video, recapping the first UNC scrimmage in Charlotte a couple weeks ago:

Despite the fact that the UNC faithful have gotten used to the offense being the dominant force among head coach Larry Fedora’s football teams, the defense has actually been the stronger unit in the first two scrimmages of the year.

Fedora said after both the scrimmage in Charlotte and the scrimmage in Greensboro that the defense had the upper hand, noting their aggressive play – something that Fedora and his staff have been preaching since they arrived on campus before the 2012 season.

Most of the attention during UNC’s spring practice has been focused on the quarterback competition between Marquise Williams and Mitch Trubisky. After all, the offense has been the strength of the past two Carolina teams, so more of the same was expected for 2014.

Although the defense is losing some of their best players with the departures of Kareem Martin, Tre Boston and Tim Jackson just to name a few, there is a feeling around the UNC coaching staff that the defense will be improved from the last two seasons. This sense of optimism is focused primarily on the fact that the 4-2-5 defense Fedora likes to run has now been implemented for the third straight season and the players are starting to grasp it with more ease.

Also, Fedora has now brought in three separate recruiting classes with defensive players that he felt is more suited for his style of defensive play. The defense already has more talented depth now than they did before the 2012 or 2013 season, and that is without the addition of the majority of the incoming freshman class that will arrive on campus during summer school.

However, fans should still expect an explosive Fedora offense no matter who ends up winning the quarterback job. The truth is the Tar Heels have too many offensive weapons in a system suited for their strengths to not be a good offensive team. The great thing for Carolina fans is that now the offense should now be accompanied with a defensive unit that is capable of shutting down opposing offenses.

The final chance for fans to come out and watch the 2014 North Carolina football team before the regular season kicks off is this Saturday at 3pm in Kenan Stadium. And while Carolina fans have come accustomed to focusing on the offense, this weekend might be a good time to recognize the defensive play for the first time.